Spain to send six Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

Spain will send its first batch of Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine.

The state will send its 6 first vehicles, Spain's defense ministry says.

Six Leopard 2A4 tanks, which are being prepared for shipment, have passed final checks at a factory near Seville in southern Spain.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles visited the tank plant on Thursday. Soon four more Leopard 2A4 tanks intended for Ukraine will arrive there for inspection and testing.

Last week, the Spanish defense ministry noted the first group of Ukrainian soldiers who learned to drive Spanish tanks completed their training at a military base in northern Spain.

Initially Spain planned to send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Later, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on the anniversary of russia's full-scale war. He then announced that Spain would increase its commitment to 10 combat vehicles.

The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, announced at a Ramstein-style meeting in March that a total of nine countries had declared their intention to transfer more than 150 Leopard tanks to Ukraine.